Feds Arrest Rep. Grimm’s Former Fundraiser

A former top fundraiser for Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm was arrested and charged with visa fraud for allegedly lying on immigration documents.

A federal complaint filed against Israeli citizen Ofer Biton claims he made false statements about the source of $500,000 he invested in a new company in an attempt to become eligible for a permanent visa.

Immigrants who can prove they have invested significantly in US businesses that create jobs for Americans can parlay that investment into visas for themselves and their families.

Biton claimed the bulk of the money – $400,000 – came from a “personal loan” from a friend, referred to in the FBI complaint merely as “witness 1.”

Witness 1 shot down Biton’s story, telling the FBI that they money actually came from another person (co-conspirator 1) who didn’t want to pay income tax on the cash.

The criminal complaint against Biton was filed by prosecutor Anthony Capozzolo of the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s public corruption unit.

Capozzolo has been heading up an investigation into allegations that Grimm accepted illegal campaign contributions.

As an illegal immigrant, Biton is not allowed to raise campaign cash for candidates for federal office in the US.

But he allegedly raised a significant percentage of the cash Grimm used to fund his successful 2010 race to oust then Democratic Rep. Michael McMahon.

Grimm has repeatedly insisted he did nothing wrong, but a federal grand jury in Brooklyn has subpoenaed his campaign staffers and volunteers.

Capozzolo has also been probing whether Biton and PR executive Ronn Torossian embezzled millions of dollars in charitable funds from an Orthodox yeshiva on the East Side that Biton helped establish as an aide to the so-called “Rabbi to the Stars”, Yoshiyahu Pinto.

Grimm is one of the DCCC’s top targets in New York this election season. He is being challenged by Democrat Mark Muprhy.